I thought the days of rap metal were long gone and I would’ve easily bet against anyone saying a new album would come out that would be half decent, until I heard Scare Don’t Fear’s From The Ground up.
While SDF’s new album isn’t so much a rap metal album as it is a fusion of metal and hip hop, if you don’t like hip hop or metal, this may be the perfect album to get you into another genre of music. Just look at what Public Enemy and Anthrax accomplished with one track. People have the habit of listening to music and forming an opinion of it based on their expectations rather than listening to the music for what it is. If you love thrash metal and someone hands you a disco album, you shouldn’t listen to it with the expectation of the next Metallica or Megadeth album. You’re not going to enjoy it. It’s going to sound off and everything about it will sound wrong.
I’m not the biggest hip hop fan, but I do enjoy it. I do, however, love metal more than any other genre. I’ve always been one to expect the worst from a rapper fronted metal band, but I’ve realized what I disliked most about them is that their “rapper” was nothing more than a whiny poser who had absolutely no rapping capabilities. If you look at some of the most influential and celebrated acts that have incorporated Rap and Metal one common factor is good rap. One very strong example would be the collaboration between Anthrax and Public Enemy. It has been a long time since anything of that magnitude has come out but, finally, there is an album, not just a song or two, but an entire album that I really enjoy.
The intro track “Shut It Down” starts off sounding like a hip hop track with the synth and programmed drums, but builds with guitars, then drives into the verse, which is reminiscent of “Bring the Noise” except with even more metal. This song is an example for the rest of the album. It’s an amazing track that exemplifies the aggression that is missing in today’s hip hop.
The album transitions seamlessly between metal and hip hop, melody and aggression.
Tracks four and five are my favorite tracks on the album. Track four, “City of Skeletons,” starts off like a hip hop track, but continuously builds in aggression in the instrumentals and vocals. Track five, “Somebody to Talk to,” is a more straightforward hip hop track, but it is amazing. Scare Don’t Fear know how to pour all their emotion into every track, and track five is no exception.
My final thoughts on From the Ground Up? If hip hop sounded like this more often, I would be a much bigger fan! Scare Don’t Fear capture everything I feel is lacking in the hip hop genre and bring a refreshing twist to metal. Sometimes it’s good to be different and Scare Don’t Fear are the perfect example.
Rating: 4/5
You can catch the band on this year’s Warped Tour and be sure to pick up their album which will be released tomorrow, June 17th!
To keep up with the band be sure to follow their facebook page.
